Ashes
by Xen Silver Quill
Summary: "His rebirth was one of darkness and flames." [Everyone deserves a second chance, even a certain Team Flare leader. The way forward is sometimes the way back, and redemption can come in the strangest and most surprising of forms.] Serena, Yveltal, Lysandre, and Professor Sycamore. Slight Perfectworldshipping.
1. Prologue

**_"So many are still waiting for their new beginning, their birth by sleep. Even me... and even you."_**

-Ansem the Wise (_Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep_)

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><p>His rebirth was one of darkness and flames.<p>

Fire licked at his skin, rough as a pyroar's tongue. His flesh melted like so much mist under sunlight as it hissed and evaporated off his bones. Even when he was burned down to the marrow, the heat continued beating at him mercilessly. His very soul was consumed by the inferno. At last the conflagration dimmed to embers, then to shadows.

Blind and dumb, he was left only with a phantasmal sense of touch. He felt... empty. A void stretched within and without him, a nothingness that drove him to madness. Silent screams tore from his throat. Voiceless, he howled his rage and despair to no one. He was stuck in purgatory with no release, closer to hell than heaven but nonetheless a torturous limbo.

_Someone... Anyone, please..._

Mewling pleas echoed from his blasted psyche. In vain he was reaching out as he searched the blankness for some shelter to which he could cling. Crying like a newborn separated from its mother, he was useless even to himself in this state.

_Is someone there? Can anyone hear me?_

No one answered. Tears fell from his sightless, nonexistent eyes. If he had a body left, he would have curled in on himself. Cold air swept on an arctic gust in the wake of the fire that had consumed him. As if ice were freezing around his spirit to hold him in place, the chilling wind turned him into living stone. He could not move so much as a twitch. Words could scarcely form on his frost-kissed lips.

_I'm lost... I'm scared..._

Imaginary monsters growled from where they crouched in the murk around him. He could nearly feel the fetid heat of their breath on his neck. The beasts crept in from all sides. Their teeth snapped, their claws clicked on the ground. What the fire had not destroyed they had come to feast upon, scavengers meaning to eat the little of him that was left over. He quivered like a leaf in a gale and screamed for his life.

_Someone help me, please!_

He did not want to be here. He did not want to be alone. He did not want to die.

_HELP ME!_

**Peace, lost one.**

The voice rang out through the darkness. Tremors rattled his clouded senses as the gloom was dispelled by a burst of scarlet light. A keening echo like an eagle's cry echoed all around him, a primal call jarring and alien to his ears. The shadows fled in the wake of the red glow. His sight returned with a vengeance, and he had to squint against the light spearing in his eyes. He thought he saw a large, vaguely avian shape silhouetted against the brightness, but with his blurry vision he could not be very sure.

Warmth suddenly enveloped him like a blanket. He did not realize how cold he was or how badly he was shivering until he was pulled against something large and blessedly solid. There was material like soft leather under his touch, a bitter yet comforting herbal scent rising from it.

Instinctively curling up closer, he welcomed this new presence with a relish. It did not enter to his mind to wonder at this thing that had come to his rescue. After all, it had saved him from the cold nothingness that had almost eaten him up. So awash was he with relief that it did not occur to him to question or be afraid. A heaviness tugged at his very being, pulling him into a state of hazy peace he had not felt since...

**Rest. I will guard you whilst you sleep. The shadows shall not touch you so long as I keep them at bay.**

The voice, while gentle and low, brooked no argument. He was hardly in a position to resist as it was. Its rumbling vibrations soothed him inexplicably, and he could do no other but obey.

**What a pitiable little spirit. So strong and fierce, and yet so twisted and confused. Perhaps the designs of fate will be kind to you in the end. Ah! but you have such a long and difficult path ahead.**

**The journey will, ultimately, be yours alone to undertake. Do not fret. I shall walk alongside you and lend my strength when and where I can. It is a rare gift that you have been given, lost one. For your sake, I hope that you will make the best of it.**

Sleep crept upon him at last. The darkness that washed over him was sweet and healing, so different from that yawning void he had found himself in before.

Yet his slumber was not without its strange, ominous dreams, either.

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><p><em>A laughing, side-burned man with eyes the color of a summer thunder cloud.../_

_He could remember nothing from before the fire. Only pain and frustration and defeat... and sad, blue-grey eyes. Those eyes pierced him to his core, disappointed and grieving._

_/A city full of brights lights, a tower at the center its crown jewel.../_

_When he tried to touch the man's shoulder, he was merely shrugged off._

_/Their hands bound together... Friendship... Love.../_

_"My decision is final, Professor. The plans are set in motion; they cannot be stopped now. My offer still stands. There is a place for you in this new world if you will only accept it."_

_/A fair-headed girl dressed in red, eyes sparking with challenge and beautiful conviction.../_

_"What kind of world can you possibly build this way? Why must everything and everyone else die to satisfy your manic ambitions? No... A utopia built on a foundation of death and destruction is no better than a dictatorship built on peace. I can't live in a world like that... and I can't love a man who would strive to create one."_

_/Flames, death, destruction... Everything going up in an earth shattering explosion.../_

_"... I see now that we have nothing more to offer each other. Farewell then, Professor."_

_/Silence... Emptiness.../_

_He knew he was the reason for the hurt in the that gaze, but he did not know why. "Oh, mon cher," the man's tear-choked voice echoed, "where did we go wrong?"_

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><p>AN: Well, here goes my first long-term, multi-chaptered fic! I hope to bring a little enjoyment to myself and others with this project. Drop a review or favorite if you have a spare moment, and keep shipping that liontree! :3

-Xen

P.S. The cover art is courtesy of Xous54 on deviantArt. She is a wonderful artist, and you should really give her work a look-see if you have a chance!


	2. Down the Valley Road

**_"All teens have the desire to somehow run away."_**

-Joan Chen

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><p>Vallée Étroite Way stretched far to the southeast, over the bridge that spanned the river and to the old mines of Terminus Cave beyond. It was a warm, windy day with the sun beaming in a cloudless sky. The breeze whistled through the grass and scrub and kicked up dust as it wound its way on the bare slopes of the mine. Sunlight glinted off the metallic exoskeletons of the durant hordes as they swarmed in and out of their mounds. Not far off a pair of lairon were having at each other over a choice bit of iron with a <em>clang! clang!<em> of armored heads. All in all, it was a typical summer day for the area as Serena set out on the road.

Her bicycle left a long wobbly line on the packed dirt as she went. With her mouse brown hair cropped back into a pixie cut, the air whooshed right past her ears as the girl leaned into the next narrow turn. Gloved hands gripped the handlebars tightly as she pedaled double time to build up speed. Serena's eyes shone with a daredevil's thrill as she just managed to avoid careening off the main road into the rushing river below. Her laughter echoed across the valley.

"Gain way!" she squealed as she swerved to avoid running over a napping graveler. It growled after her in irritation but otherwise could not be roused to moved from its resting place. The girl continued to almost bump into a number of trainers and wild pokémon alike, tossing breathy apologies over her shoulders.

"Whoa there! Sorry! Mind your head! Excuse me! Careful! Coming through!" She rode like a tornadus on a storm front, scattering and disrupting everything in her wake. In spite of her giggling and unshakeable smile, her frantic pace resembled that of one being chased. And, she was being chased by a most infamous predator indeed: reality.

Those nagging reminders and obligations pursued and nipped at her tirelessly. Everything that had happened at Geosenge stuck stubbornly with her, though it had been nearly a month since the incident. She could scarcely think of Team Flare or its enigmatic boss or the apocalypse they had almost succeeded in bringing about and not instantly become angry, sad, and just plain angsty.

Lately she could hardly stand to be around anyone save her own pokémon. The girl could not even talk with Shauna or Calem or any of her friends without feeling the intense, frightening urge to bite their heads off. Her fuse was dangerously short. For goodness sake, an electrode had a better temper than she did!

None of them deserved it, though; they were not the reason she felt so... furious? depressed? lost? So she had begun avoiding them like the plague for a few weeks now.

After what happened with Tierno, she could not muster up the nerve to face any of those close to her. Shame burned at her cheeks and ruddied her face when she thought of how she had made the aspiring choreographer cry. Her spiteful, thoughtless words had cut the boy's sensitive heart to ribbons. His tears, Shauna's shocked gasp, Trevor's face drawn up in a scowl of anger and indignation for his friend's sake - the memories were permanently imprinted on her brain and played ad infinitum in her dreams when she slept.

Serena had not spoken with any of them since, not even over the holo caster. Her personal caster buzzed in her satchel a few dozen times a day with incoming calls, each unheeded and unanswered. To her surprise and chagrin, everyone seemed to have left her at least one message concerned about her whereabouts and safety. Even Tierno - Arceus bless him - had tried several times to get into contact with her.

_"Baby girl, we're all so worried. I understand if you don't want to pick up right now... just know that we all care about you and are here if you need us."_

_"Hey, Serena. Calem here. I get that you're in a rough spot after what happened at Geosenge, but can't you give us some sign that you're all right?"_

_"Serena? It's Professor Sycamore. Mon dieu, why won't the girl pick up... The others say you won't return their calls, that they haven't seen you in two weeks. If you haven't fallen off the face of the earth, at least send me or one of your friends a message. I've been at that age before, so I won't call it selfish, but still... If you're feeling hurt, the rest of us are hurting at least half as much worrying over you. Tierno is absolutely beside himself right now. The poor boy blames himself for your disappearance..."_

_"I'm s-s-sorry, Serena! P-please come b-back! If... if you're still mad, you c-c-can scream at me all you l-l-l-like. J-just c-c-come back..."_

She always teared up when she replayed the last one. It took every ounce of willpower not to send an earnest reply, begging for their forgiveness. That, or just smash the caster and be done with it. The fact was, though, she did not trust herself around them. She was afraid she would lose it again. Sycamore was right that she was hurting them, but Serena knew that would only hurt them even more by sticking around.

Guilt was part of the problem, but it was not all that was tearing her up inside. Until she had worked out exactly what was wrong with her and fixed the problem, she was staying clear.

In the end she did leave a recording for her inbox. The message was not particularly long or informative, but it would have to do. Maybe it would finally stop them from calling.

"_You've reached Serena,_" it said. "_I can't talk to anyone right now... but I'm okay. I have some things I have to take care of before I come back. I will come back. I promise._"

With the screwy logic of a teenager, Serena fancied that if she were only fast enough she could leave it all far behind, never to bother her again. Of course, everything always caught up with her in the end. Even a flighty spirit like her own could not keep running forever.

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><p>At last she collapsed on the rough turf bordering the path, throwing the yellow bike on its side as she dismounted. She plopped down on her backside with an exasperated, exhausted sigh. Dust coated her faded jeans and, well, almost every part of her. Shedding her navy blue windbreaker she vigorously shook out the article clothing. Folding it up and placing it behind her head, she eased back to recline against her satchel. Sweat beaded on brow from her run, and she wiped it away with a flick of her hand.<p>

Ugh, I'm gross. Wonder if I can get a decent shower at the center in Couriway... Serena's tuckered legs refused to carry her anywhere at the moment, though. She fingered the pokéballs at her belt. The gang might as well get out and stretch a bit. I'm certainly not going to be moving anytime soon.

"Alrighty, guys, come on out!" She threw one after the other into the air, watched each expand and spout that bright energy to materialize into the familiar forms of her team.

Caesar was the first to appear, shaking the ground with his monstrous weight as he dropped on his two feet. The pale feathery fluff covering his neck and lower jaw bristled as he yawned. Or rather, roared. There was no telling with the tyrantrum. Every sound from that razor teeth-lined mouth sounded equally grumpy.

Serena's venusaur and gardevoir were next, named Coatl and Guinevere, respectively.

'Ginny' made her entrance with all the cool grace her species so naturally commanded. The skirt-like appendages flared about her before settling and, refined lady that she was, not so much as a speck of dirt marred the pristine whiteness. Quick as a whip and light as a leaf, she twirled out of the way as Coatl landed in the spot she had just occupied.

The squat grass-type croaked rather like a toad as he landed, and it was surprising that he did not make a squishy splat! sound with his great bulk. However, he had a certain chubby charm with his goofy grin and chortling call that could always bring a smile to his trainer's face.

Making a less flashy appearance out of her pokéball was the strong and silent type of the crew, Brunhilde. The lucario had been a stoic she-warrior since she had first met Serena over half a year ago on Route 5. Brunhilde scanned her surroundings briefly before spying and moving for a promising-looking boulder on which to stand for her daily meditation.

Last of all was the one that had been with Serena the longest. With an exhalation of heat redolent of cinnamon incense, Minerva sat down quietly next to her trainer. The signature flame of the delphox burned as a torch on the end of the long branch. Curiously enough, the wood was never consumed by the fire no matter intensely it burned in and out of battle.

"_Kriii?_" Serena glanced over at her starter. The maroon fur of Minerva's legs were bunched up as she crouched, staring into the ethereal flame on her wand. While she did not look at the human, the delphox ears flicked this way and that in Serena's general direction.

"No, Min, I'm fine." Of course, she was not speaking with the fire-type, not in the sense of an actual language, anyway. Nor did she understand the delphox's growls and whines as coherent words, per say. Still, there was a conversation of sorts going on between human and pokémon. Minerva's face had never been terribly expressive, but the girl had learned to read her partner's moods in her posture. In this instance, the fluffy tail waving slowly side to side and the large ears twitching incessantly indicated worry for Serena.

Her tail kept its slow wagging from side to side. "_Kriiiii..._" came the unconvinced 'reply.'

Serena laughed in spite of herself. Nothing ever got past Minerva, or Guinevere for that matter. Psychic pokémon seldom missed anything, especially with the trainers with whom they worked on a daily basis. That included the violet-and-white sphere Serena toyed with absentmindedly in her lap.

"I keep meaning to do it," the girl mused aloud, raking a hand through her short hair. Her gaze pointedly avoided the master ball. "I really do. But every time I try, when I'm just about to throw it..." Sighing, she slid further on her satchel until she lay entirely on the grass. The pokéball remained clutched at her chest and disappeared into the grey wrinkles of her sweat soaked T-shirt.

"I remember _it_. I remember it almost killing you before I captured it..." Again she turned to look at Minerva, but the delphox only continued peering at the fire at the mention of the near-death experience. If she thought anything of the Oblivion Wing attack that had incapacitated her and kept her unconscious for three days, she did not show it.

Shivering, Serena tried not to think too long or hard on the living myth she carried with her. Chills ran down her spine at the mere memory of facing the yveltal. While she battled against it bravely enough, the truth was she had been scared witless of it, still was. The sheer, horrifying power the beast exuded was enough to give her nightmares. If half the myths were true, Serena had a good reason to be leery and wary: yveltal was the physical manifestation of death itself.

Though it was irresponsible and neglectful of her as a trainer, she had been too afraid to let yveltal out of its pokéball afterwards. She regretted not passing the behemoth off to Professor Sycamore when he had made the offer. There had once been some foolhardy notion in her mind to care of it herself, but what did a teenage rookie know about handling a destructive and life-leeching creature like that? Absolutely nothing, that was what.

So, until she figured out what do with yveltal, it would be locked up tight in the confines of the master ball and would stay there indefinitely.

"I remember seeing it for the first time in the Team Flare base," she continued, "and then that makes me think about Team Flare and everything... just everything that they did or tried to do." Brows narrowing as she spoke, her hold on the pokéball tightened a bit. "So many people and pokémon got hurt because of those glorified fashionista punks. And for what? Because of their leader's so-called 'vision' for a better world. Huh, some world!"

By now her lips had drawn up in a snarl, and her eyes sparked with an on-coming rage. "It's not even like Lysandre ever stopped to think about what anybody else wanted or needed. All that garbage about 'beauty' and 'giving' and humans messing up the world- I mean, I get that and all, but that was all he ever talked about! For Arceus' sake, his head was so far up his own ass that he refused to see anything else.

"And what a hypocrite! One minute he's going on about how pokémon are wonderful and everything and how people exploit them, and at the same time he's using them to power up that doomsday weapon from hell. Oh, so it's wrong when others do it, but when Team Flare does the same thing it's something grand and wonderful?"

Ranting, a distant part of her knew that she was quickly and irrationally spiraling into a frenzy, the same kind of manic frenzy that had ended with Tierno in tears and her running away. At the same time she could care less. So what if she was getting angry for no good reason? Serena needed to get her feelings out one way or another, or she was liable to spontaneously combust on the spot. "That abomasnow, those rhydon and the others... they had the life literally getting sucked out of them.

"That poor yveltal had it the worst of all, y'know? If it hadn't woken up, I think they were going to let it die." Angry tears started pooling and falling down her cheeks. She tore her fierce gaze down to look at the master ball that contained the very 'Destruction Pokémon' of which she spoke. Launching up into a sitting position, Serena curled her body around the ball. It was as if, in spite of her fear of it, she sought to protect the legendary creature within from people like Lysandre and his lackeys who would seek to use and hurt it.

All the pent-up frustration and stress that she had spent the afternoon trying to ride off came rushing back with a vengeance. The teenager shot to her feet so fast that Minerva actually glanced up in mild alarm. "Kri?" Serena was too far gone, and she did not register any of her pokémon, did not see how they all had turned to their trainer as her temper escalated.

"I almost wish that Lysandre didn't go up in the explosion," she growled. "If that hadn't destroyed him already, I- I-" Trembling and seething, Serena's pupils contracted to pin pricks. "_I would have killed him myself!_" An inhuman yell ripped from her throat. Blindly she threw the nearest object at hand, trying to throw the maelstrom of feelings and urges boiling in her chest with it.

A split second too late she realized her mistake.

Serena's anger instantly transformed into horror as the ball went flying. In a flash, the yveltal within emerged into the world with an ear-splitting cry. Electric blue eyes instantly caught the girl's own, and in their depths was a promise of retribution - and death.

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><p>AN: Oh my. Serena, honey, what have you gotten yourself into now?

I've always understood the characterizations for the "player" characters to be subjective, so I've tried to apply that logic in writing Serena's character. If she comes across as an angsty teenager who gets mad too easily and lacks a great deal of empathy and perspective, that's good. That's what I intended for her (at least initially).

Hope you guys enjoy this chapter! I hope to have an update out in a week or so, so be sure to stay posted. Have a lovely day~ c:

-Xen


	3. Waking Up

_**"Sleep is my lover now, my forgetting, my opiate, my oblivion."**_

-Audrey Niffenegger (_The Time Traveler's Wife_)

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><p>It was warm, dark, and comfortably snug, as if he were inside his mother's womb. An eternity or a moment might have passed for all he knew. Time was meaningless to him in this place.<p>

The voice kept its promise. No more nightmares or bogeymen preyed on him. The shadows held no more fear for him, only shelter and safety.

Soft lullabies echoed from the void around him as sweet songs to mend his tattered consciousness. When he stirred from his sleep, soothing whispers would lull him back to rest. The presence of his rescuer never left, enwrapped him tightly yet tenderly in its hold. A deep pulse like a great heart thrummed beneath him. The constant beat of it was his beginning and end, the thread that kept him tethered to existence.

He could have slept there forever, safely ensconced from world outside. Yet this state of sweet, half wakefulness was only temporary.

A nudge at the edge of his awareness.

**Wake, my lost one.**

A stirring. He groaned groggily, stubbornly hanging to those shreds of peace and unconsciousness.

**The land of the living is calling you once more. It must not be kept waiting.**

A whimper escaped him. He did not want to leave. The mere thought made him begin to quake uncontrollably. If he left, would the voice still be there to protect him, or would he be left cold and alone again? If the latter was the case... His shaking worsened.

_Please, don't go away. Don't leave me..._

**Do not fear. I promised that I would walk by your side as you made your way, and I will keep to that promise. Mine will be the light of your path. So long as our fates are intertwined, I will never leave you.**

Something like a breeze stirred around him, an embrace and a push at once. Then there was a sensation of falling as the presence - the voice - released its hold on him. He could not quite shrug off the trepidation for the mysteries that lay ahead. The darkness was all that he had known for so long... Yet, if the voice was beside him, maybe he would be all right. He trusted in its word if nothing else.

**Now, open your eyes.**

The land of the living was indeed calling him back, and when he answered it hurt like a ramming rhyhorn.

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><p>Her breath hitched in her throat when she saw the yveltal materialize above her. The creature was even more awe-inspiring and maddeningly frightening as she remembered. Red and violet sparks fell of it like so much rain. Scarlet light pulsed on its belly and wings in that unmistakable jagged Y-pattern. Even the heavens clouded and darkened to herald the behemoth, or so it seemed to the stunned girl.<p>

As it flew this way and that, Serena could only stare helplessly at the sharp talons of its feet and the razor claws at the end of its tail and wings. Just a twitch of those appendages could kill her, never mind the attacks yveltal could do without so much as _touching_ its prey. Chills ran as cold electrics shocks up and down her spine. Every instinct screamed at her to run, but her feet would not move from where they were glued to the ground.

Her team was in a similar state of shock. Not even loud and bold Caesar, who was the always the first to charge in and take the challenge head on, stirred from where he stood on the riverbank. Her venusaur made low, mewling sounds, as the yveltal wheeled overhead. The immovable Brunhilde bristled furiously. Only Guinevere and Minerva had the presence of mind to remain quiet and take up defensive positions around their trainer and team mates. Their psychic powers cracked in response to the monster's dark aura.

Then yveltal's dread attention finally turned on them. Its glowing, pupiless gaze met hers. The ice in her spine permeated her chest with spiked shards. Her heart leapt into her throat, but she could not tear away from that soul-piercing stare. _Arceus, oh Arceus..._ was Serena's only coherent thought, a prayer for her life.

* * *

><p>Brightness hit him as he was ejected from his sanctuary.<p>

_/A sun-dappled forest trail, the chitter of fletchlings in the trees and pikachu skittering through the undergrowth.../_

His newborn's cry ripped from him, and he shrilled like a braviary through the air as he instinctively took wing. Why did everything hurt so much? The dry air in his lungs, the sunlight against his squinted eyes, the wind that scraped his scarlet hide, the sky so vibrant and blue that was everything the void had not been - it was too much. Compared with the quiet bleakness of his dark sleep, the world he presently found himself in was a sensory overload. Terror, inexplicable as a child's, bloomed in his chest. He screamed again, shattering the air around him. There had to be some way to let it out, to escape, or he would tear himself apart!

Though he was a nightmare incarnate to those who watched him below, he was scarcely aware of anyone but himself. What they took to be anger and aggression was his unmitigated fear.

_/An incoming typhoon, the vortex ripping houses from their foundations and trees from their roots.../_

Like a branch torn from a tree in a storm, he was lost in the chaos and had no anchor. There was nothing familiar he could take hold of in order to reorient himself. When he could think past his own emotional turmoil, he latched on to the only remotely familiar object about this alien world: a pair of grey eyes, so much like those of the man in his dreams...

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><p>"<em>Kriii!<em>"

Her delphox's warning call broke Serena from her stupor. Only daring to turn her back on the yveltal for a second or two, the girl whipped her head from side to side to find her team. Rather belatedly she realized that she was not the only one in danger from the raging legend. "Guys, come back, _now_!" Never before had she withdrawn her pokémon so quickly. In an instant she called them all back, summoning and stashing them away in the relative safety of the pokéballs.

Now if only she could get yveltal back inside its ball... Serena mentally slapped herself for not thinking to do that sooner. Her common sense had apparently fled with her mood from earlier. Reaching for the master ball at her belt-

New dread shot through her when her hand met with nothing. Where was it? Searching the ground around her frantically, there was no sign it.

"Oh no..." she gasped. There, a hundred yards off, was the empty purple-and-white sphere teetering precariously on the edge of the cliff. One more little push would easily send it into the rapids below.

Serena dashed for the bank, all her focus on the pokéball that was her lifeline. If she lost it or failed to put the yveltal back inside in time, the girl was well and truly done for. _I swear to Arceus_, she promised inwardly. _If I somehow get out of this alive, I'm handing that monster straight over to the professor, responsibilities as a trainer be damned!_

She felt rather than saw the great red bird give pursuit. The atmosphere crackled with eldritch energy, raising the hairs on the back of her neck as she ran. Another screech behind her, and she chanced a glance over her shoulder. The yveltal was dangerously close behind and quickly closing the gap between them.

Then, quite suddenly, it hung back. Serena nearly sobbed out loud in relief. Maybe it decided she was not worth chasing after all, or maybe it had found another poor soul to go after. Either way, the master ball was just a little further off, and if she was quick enough she could grab it and summon the yveltal while the beast's back was returned.

Her hopes were thoroughly dashed, however, by a high-pitched whine that echoed across Route 18. The closest sound that Serena could liken it to was the charge of Coatl's Solar Beam before he fired it... Instinct had her body moving before she consciously recognized the oncoming it.

Blood curdling screams melded with the _skreee!_ of the Oblivion Wing attack as the bolt of red energy hit home.

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><p>When his one source of sanity hightailed in the opposite direction, he naturally followed after. "Come back, don't run away!" - that was what he tried to say, but the words came out as nothing more than a keening wail. Why did she run? The short-locked girl cruelly turned and fled from him, denying him the soothing balm of those eyes.<p>

_/"Lyssy, don't walk away from this! There is still a chance. There is time to stop all of this from happening. We can still be happy - together..."/_

Anger and hurt welled up violently in his belly and made him stop short. They churned liked magma in the heart of a volcano, pressurized and unable to be contained by such narrow confines. With no other place to go and no other route to take, his fury traveled up and out.

His horror was mirrored on her face as the crimson light overcame her fleeing form.

* * *

><p>Falling to her knees and ducking her head under her arms, she braced herself. A pokémon could barely withstand that life-draining blow. She did not count on a mere human like herself surviving the same. Though her life was not flashing before her eyes, Serena truly expected to die there on the riverside.<p>

_I'm sorry, everyone_, she thought in the half second before she was engulfed in the light. _Looks like I won't be coming back after all._

Regret tainted her last moments. There were so much that was left unfinished and undone.

She would never win her last gym badge, would never compete in the Kalos League. There would be no more battles with Calem or pokédex comparing with Trevor. No more surprise visits home to her mother or staying up late into the night talking about everything and nothing. Never would she have the chance to patch things up with Tierno and see him smile again.

Serena's only silver lining was the possibility that her team would come out alive and unscathed. She also hoped that her friends and loved ones would not think too badly of her when she never returned.

* * *

><p>Minerva prided herself on being an imperturbable and rational creature, an exemplary specimen of her kind.<p>

There was a reason that she was the unofficial leader of Serena's team. She was a delphox; grace, cleverness, and power were part of the package. When even the unflappable Brunhilde lost her head in the heat of battle, Minerva remained in control of her faculties and saw them all through to victory. Like the flame of on her branch she could shrink down to an ember or erupt into a firestorm. She could be untamed and dangerous, but never out of control.

Except, of course, when her beloved trainer was threatened.

She erupted from the confines of her pokéball with a loud and furious "KRIII!" Throwing up a Light Screen, the foxy creature threw herself between Serena and the beam of the Oblivion Wing. Minerva bared her fangs, both in anger and for the sheer effort of maintaining the shield against the onslaught. The branch she held close to her chest burned like a sun in its own right. Psychic energy ruffled the thick fur of her laid back ears. Smoke and sparks fired from where the Light Screen was blocking the attack, and everything became dark for several moments.

"M-min?" Serena coughed as the smoke cleared. The delphox turned to look at the girl, her expression losing some of its fierceness when she saw that her trainer was well and none the worse for wear. Minerva's attention was soon diverted elsewhere, though, by the yveltal still wheeling overhead.

* * *

><p>He was as relieved as the girl surely was by the delphox's fortunate appearance. To have destroyed her - his holding place, as it were, in the waking world - would have been unforgivable sin unto himself. Crisis averted for the moment, he made to get closer to the pair. Though his sudden rage from a few moments before had passed, the need to get the girl was still incredibly strong. He was pulled in an iron nail is to a magnet, knowing that the key to calming the storm within lay with her.<p>

:If you value your life, cur, you will come no closer to me or my mistress!:

When the voice echoed through his mind, he thought for a moment that it was _the_ voice. Yet the words presently invading his mind were not an all-consuming presence, and this voice was distinctly feminine and harsh, not masculine. He looked about confusedly for the source. Perhaps this voice was like the one in his mind and had no physical body that contained it. He shrieked again.

:And cease that infernal screeching. Either express yourself in a better way or be silent altogether.:

The amber eyes of the delphox caught his own, burning with warning and, if he was not mistaken, _annoyance_. Was she the speaking to him, then? Something about the vulpine creature rubbed him the wrong way in an instant. Still, he acquiesced to her command, knowing that there would be no getting around the vixen if he wanted to get to the girl. He saw the fur along her shoulders and spine settle somewhat when he went quiet.

:Now, if you are quite done throwing a tantrum, you may land, provided that you maintain distance from Mistress Serena.: He obediently alighted on an outcropping. _Serena..._ So that was the name behind those gray eyes. It struck a chord of familiarity deep inside, but for the life of him he could not place why. His claws gouged furrows in the ground as he pondered on the mystery, the white fur around his neck ruffling in the breeze.

The delphox spoke again. :If you have the faculties to do so, will you kindly explain why you attacked her, your own trainer? I understand that you are a power in your own right. Yet the same contract binds the both of us to her until the day she chooses to release us from it. Never is it permissible to bring her intentional harm: Silence stretched on between them, and the delphox growled quietly. :Are you incapable of answering, or is your impudence so great that you think it beneath you to give a reply?:

:L... lost...: The single word scraped across the empty space between their minds. It took a sincere effort to form, and he surprised himself in doing so. To send the audible thought through the invisible link between himself and the delphox was instinctual. Yet in the same instance it was an incredibly strange and disconcerting sensation. A dull pain throbbed between his eyes. He winced visibly, a broken squawk escaping from his beakish mouth.

:Lost... I... am... lost.:

* * *

><p>AN: I am snowed/iced in my house at the moment, so I've had a little extra time to write up another chapter.

Thanks to everyone who has favorited or followed this story so far. And a special thank you to **Bird of Flame** for being my first reviewer. I hope you will all continue to stick with me as I write, and it makes my day to know you guys enjoy it. ;3

-Xen


	4. Sprained Ankles and Awkward Meetings

**_"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step."_**

-Lao-tzu

* * *

><p>Serena was not fooled by the sudden complacency in the bird's demeanor, not for a minute. Her heart kept up a galloping pace, and she scarcely dared to move from where she was still crouched on the ground. In that moment she could empathize with the wurmple's predicament under a swellow's hungry gaze. She was convinced that if she so much as <em>twitched<em> in a conspicuous manner that the yveltal would launch into another frenzy. Minerva seemed to have its attention (for now) and the girl trusted the delphox to cover her again if the need arose.

_If she hadn't come to my rescue, I don't think a hazmat team could have scraped my bits off the turf_, she thought in hysterical amusement. _For once I'm glad that pokéball can't keep her in. Speaking of which..._

Looking out of the corner of her eye, she could just see the yveltal's master ball. Somehow it had not been blasted to pieces or knocked into the river by the shock of the Oblivion Wing. The same could not be said for the circle of destruction about them.

The grass and shrubs immediately in the vicinity of the blast were shriveled as could be. Vegetation crackled into dust underfoot, as if it had not seen rain for the better part of a year. Yet it was not a drought that ravaged the plants so terribly. Rather, the life force had been siphoned off from them to feed the pokémon.

She gulped audibly, recalling the lore surrounding the yveltal.

_"When this legendary Pokémon's wings and tail feathers spread wide and glow red, it absorbs the life force of all living creatures."_

That was more or less what the old man in Anistar City had told her. A shudder passed through Serena. She had been inches from becoming another statistic under the legend's belt, probably just one of a body count of millions.

Feeling more than justified in her earlier fears, she scarcely hesitated to inch slowly but surely towards the river bank.

* * *

><p>Of the present company, the delphox had the most reason to resent the yveltal. It had nearly killed her, after all. Minerva's battered pride was worse for wear after their previous encounter. Her loss, in retrospect, had perhaps been inevitable. After all, what chance did a mere mortal, even one endowed with psychic abilities, have against a veritable god? More than one might have expected, especially with a mistress to protect.<p>

She sensed her trainer stir behind her but did not move to acknowledge the moment. Not for a moment did she dare to look away from the scarlet avian. It was a primitive contest of wills between them, and the first to look away would admit to the superiority of the opposition. Minerva had no intentions of yielding to this brute.

:L... lost... I... am... lost...:

:Ah, so you _can_ speak.: Large ears twitching this way and that, the delphox was otherwise silent as she took in the yveltal.

There was that smell of bitter medicine she had come to associate with the pokémon of death. Power rolled off it in waves, a dark miasma that caused the fur along her spine to stand on end in spite of herself. The very air crackled with the ancient, eldritch feel of it.

Yet, in spite of the intimidating energy the yveltal gave off, the creature gave the impression of anything _but_ terrifying. So very different from the vengeful god she had first been acquainted with. Oh, there was certainly a presence of power, but it was so uncoordinated and uncontrolled as to be ineffectual. There was no guiding focus or intention behind those electric blue eyes. Little wonder that she had been able to block the attack with a comparatively weak Light Screen.

Acrid and pervasive, the scent of fatigue and stress that came in on an errant breeze burned her nose. Underneath it was the unmistakable current of - fear?

* * *

><p>Shuddering, he keened low in his throat. His head throbbed monstrously. The few words he had sent to that delphox along the connection had sparked a migraine in his temples. Slumping on the sun-warmed rocks, he pressed his head to the soothing heat of the stone. Fevered shivering passed through him as his eyes closed.<p>

Oh, how he longed for the sweet oblivion of the darkness. There was no cause for grief or anxiety in its tender hold. There was no light or wind to disturb him there. The darkness did not run from him. The darkness did not reject and abandon him when he needed its presence most.

:There is something _different_ about you.: He did not look up when the delphox spoke again, much less make a reply. There was no energy left in him for that much.

Her words lapped at his mind like the tide on a sandy shore, thoughtful and soft. There was gentleness that had been absent only a minute ago. While there was still a wary note in her tone, the delphox's voice lacked its earlier fury.

:Now, relax,: the vixen soothed. :I will not harm you. There is merely something I must ascertain for myself...:

Lethargy stole over him like a shroud while a pinkish glow played against his eyelids. Subtle pressure ghosted along his skull and spine. He shied away weakly from the touch. Yet the pressure only increased, and he felt it most keenly in his chest. Pins and needles stabbed at the interior of his ribcage. A sudden anger bloomed at his core.

:**STOP!**:

* * *

><p>Minerva almost jumped back (but not quite, as she refused to show fear) in alarm at the yveltal's protest. The demand for her to cease burst like wildfire across their mental link. The magenta glow of her psychic powers immediately disappeared from around its prone form. Blue eyes promised bloody murder if she attempted to probe him again. The delphox merely raised a brow at her 'teammate,' though the creature was such in name only.<p>

:Glowering menacingly at me will accomplish nothing, you know. A little leering has scarcely hurt me since I was a whelp.: The tip of her tail twitched in amusement. :If you were in your right mind - which I cannot rightfully say you are - you would have realized I intended you no ill will. As it is, I was merely running a diagnostic check on your body.

:You positively reek of fear, by the way,: she continued. :Be glad that Caesar was not the one to come to my mistress' rescue. One whiff of you and that overgrown alpha male of a tyrantrum would have torn to you to pieces.:

She just held back a groan of exasperation at the confusion in the yveltal's gaze. Its cluelessness (or rather, _his_ cluelessness; the pokemon's signature had been decidedly male-ish) was sorely apparent. _Is he even listening?!_ Minerva thought.

* * *

><p>Truthfully, the delphox might as well have been speaking gibberish for all the sense she made. That he was still ill with her attempted "diagnostic" did little to help his mood. At least her speech took his mind off the burgeoning ache in his skull. That, or perhaps her chattering made it even worse. He was not entirely sure which was the case. Either way, his focus was not on her at the moment.<p>

A little further off Serena was poking around the water's edge. Every now and again the girl would look back nervously at the two pokémon, nervousness evident in her dilated grey eyes and trembling limbs. When her stare met his by chance, he swore that he could feel the blood freezing in her veins. He instantly turned his head from side to side, trying to find what horrified her so. He found nothing, and then a faint realization dawned in his mind.

_Am I... am _I_ the reason she is afraid?_

He had no time to muse any further when his train of thought was interrupted by the delphox. When the female glared daggers of irritation at him, he could only return with an expression of chagrin laced with similar annoyance.

* * *

><p><em>Holy Arceus, it's looking right at me!<em>

She went still in the face of that mind-numbing stare. For a few moments Serena thought the yvetlal would leap up and begin its airborne pursuit anew. Something else caught its attention a second or two later, though, and she thanked her lucky stars. "Walking on exeggcute shells" - it was a very appropriate expression for her current predicament. She could not even breathe without being afraid of setting off the behemoth.

After an eternity, she finally got near enough to the master ball to snatch it from the bank. Serena clutched it to her chest, the key to getting out of this nightmare. All she had to do now was sneak up on the yveltal and get within recall range. If she were quiet enough and Minerva kept its attention, the girl would have the raging bird of death restrained in a matter of minutes. Maybe she would even be able to make it to Couriway before dark.

Bracing herself, she slowly got to her feet. Fixing her gaze on the yveltal's form she was careful to be silent. Serena took a few deep breaths to calm the pounding tattoo of her heart. Her hold on the master ball tightened as she steeled her resolve and went forward.

* * *

><p>Any caution or gentleness she possessed before was replaced in an instant by indignant fury. Minerva marched straight over to the scarlet-and-black pokémon, her fur bristling and teeth bared. In the space of ten minutes the yveltal had managed to upset her cool as no one else ever had. Marvelous, just marvelous.<p>

The unlit end of her branch came down hard on his muzzle. Once, twice, three times she walloped his face. He grunted out a yelp at each blow, and that satisfied the incensed part of her. It was the way her mother had disciplined her as a young fennekin. If the yveltal insisted upon acting like a pup scarcely whelped, then that was just how he would be treated. He certainly had thrown a tantrum like one, and his venonat-like attention span did him little credit.

:Are you deaf as well as dense?: she berated him across their link. :Impudent little pup! When someone is trying to help you, common courtesy dictates that you at least listen to them in return. One such as you might be expected to have far better manners.:

At least he had the decency to look ashamed. Minerva hit him across the head once more for good measure. Arms crossed, she scowled at the yveltal. From the surprise in his eyes, the delphox now had his undivided attention.

:Ahem.: The fur along her pelt finally settled. Taking a moment to compose herself, she spoke once more. :Now that I have your ears at last, I will continue. As I was saying…:

* * *

><p><em>Come on, Serena. Keep it together, keep it together...<em> Topping a small rise overlooking the river, the girl crept up on the two pokémon. Sweat beaded her brow and neck, as much from trepidation as from the muggy heat of the afternoon. _Just a little closer and I'll be in range_.

Minerva was currently keeping her captive in check by locking it in place with her trademark glare. It produced a similar effect to a golbat's Mean Look, though the move was not in the delphox species movepool the last time Serena checked. The vixen often managed Caesar with the same technique when he was in a mood. Apparently it worked on mythical incarnations of death as well as temperamental tyrantrums. The flaming end of her branch that was dangerously close the yveltal's eye probably had something to do with its complacency, too.

On another day, Serena might have laughed to see her starter holding back a legend five times her size with scarcely anything but a disapproving look. At present the girl could only pray her delphox did not get hurt trying to protect her. If Serena feared anything more than the yveltal in that moment, it was the possibility of losing Minerva to the monster.

So focused was she on getting behind the bird, the teenager did not look where she was placing her foot... right into an old durant hole.

"Waaaaah!" With a queazy-making _crack!_ she went sailing head first down the rocky slope. Sending dust and pebbles up in her wake, Serena played the part of a human tumbleweed, grunting and shrieking her way down the slope. When she did stop at long last she was bruised, had dirt up places she did not know she had, and was cursing the universe in general.

_Today is just not my day, is it?_ she thought to no one in particular. Her eyes watered from the debris in them, and her world went bleary for several seconds. Putting a hand out to get back up on her feet, she noticed something rather odd. The surface that had broken her fall felt strangely leathery, and the scent of bitter herbs wafted from all around. Serena immediately stiffened.

When the ground beneath her shifted, a terrified "eep!" escaped her lips. A soft, rumbling trill echoed far too close to her ear for comfort. She was rolled off what was apparently a long red wing, narrowly avoiding the wickedly sharp claws at the end. Breath shallow in her chest, Serena watched in abject horror at the yveltal loomed above her. Propped up on its arm-like wings it all but trapped her beneath that bulky form. Minerva growled in warning some ways off, but the girl could register nothing but the intense blue eyes that held her own gaze.

Suddenly, the yveltal bent its head towards her. Gasping, she scrambled backwards like a corphish from a fisherman's lure. Or, at least, she would have save for the pain firing through her right heel when she put her weight on it. Tears pricked at the corners of eyes as the sprain smarted. Apparently that tumble down the hill had given her more than a few bruises.

"Ow!" She clutched her foot with one hand while scooting back across the ground as quickly as she could from the monster still too close to her. Minerva was by her side in an instant, crouching over her trainer. The delphox's presence was not enough to deter the yveltal this time, however.

* * *

><p>Tilting his head to the side, he looked at the girl with tired curiosity. He had been as surprised as she when she came crashing on his back. Serena's weight was nothing to him, of course, but her sudden closeness was both unexpected and... pleasant. Something deep in his core thrummed at her close proximity. It dulled the edge of his fear and stress, deadened the ache in his temples.<p>

_/"The trainer-pokémon bond is something that not even modern science can quite explain. Yet, despite the fact that it cannot be seen or measured, there is still something undeniable..."/_

He did not miss the way she gingerly held her heel. The girl's face was drawn up in equal parts fear and pain, and he knew he was the cause of both. Guilt burned as a tiny ember in his chest, though it was greatly overshadowed by the vague euphoria clouding his senses. He did not wish to be the reason for her pain, not when her presence alone did so much to anchor him to this world.

_/"The two - the trainer and _pokémon - _grow stronger together, maturing and becoming closer as a team. They live and battle alongside each other, moving and breathing in-sync as if they can read one another's mind. There are even tales of trainers and pokémon who are bonded on such a deep level that they share emotions with each other."/_

Ignoring the chittering of the delphox, he shifted until his horns framed the girl's trembling form. He pushed his great head gently into her chest. His growling was so soft that the low rumble might have been mistaken for purring. Sleepiness stole over him once more, and his eyes fluttered slowly shut. Rubbing against her slight body like an affectionate persian, his body began to go lax.

The storm within himself had finally quieted. Fear, anger, sadness - all of it was gone. As he sank into darkness once more, he finally realized what he had been searching for in Serena, in those familiar-yet-unfamiliar grey eyes: peace.

He held that feeling close to himself as the red energy of the master ball flashed around him, pulling him into the shadows of sleep once more.

* * *

><p>AN: And there's another one, folks! Now that we have something of a set up, you can expect the next few chapters to be more action-oriented!

Thanks to all you new subscribers as well as the lovelies who have stuck it out thus far. Your reviews always give me the encouragement I need to keep writing. Have a lovely evening, until next time! ;D

-Xen


	5. A Little Time to Think

**_"If ever there is tomorrow when we're not together... there is something you must always remember. You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think. But the most important thing is, even if we're apart... I'll always be with you."_**

-A.A. Milne

* * *

><p>By the time evening rolled around, Serena was calm enough to sum up a couple things about her life at the moment.<p>

One: She had effectively cut herself off from her family, friends, and every other person she ever held dear.

Two: Currently in her possession was the living, breathing embodiment of _death_ (which was sort of ironic and funny in a really, really twisted way).

Three: Said embodiment of death had nearly killed her and was probably unstable in the extreme.

Four: Her ankle was twisted and swollen and _damn_ did it still hurt.

Oi, what a day.

With a grunt, the girl pulled the cloth bandage tight around her foot. Grimacing she at last secured the wrapping with a safety pin. Serena leaned back on the padded bench and sighed. Raindrops beat a staccato rhythm against the bay windows of the pokémon center. Aside from the hum of the machines behind the counter everything was still and quiet.

A good Samaritan of a ranger had thankfully thought to check out the commotion on her end of the route. Luckily for the girl he had been too immediately preoccupied by her injury to question what exactly had happened. Not wanting to have to explain her current predicament, she was all too willing hitch a ride on his pickup truck to Couriway.

It had been late evening by the time she had gotten to see a chansey and a medic at the center. Now the clock on the wall was creeping somewhere around midnight. Serena was dog-tired and wanted to do nothing more than curl up on the bunch and nod off as if today had never happened. The fact was that it _had_ happened, though, and her mind would not let her avoid the issue at hand.

In retrospect, it had been a bad idea to keep the yveltal tucked away so long in its pokéball. Even the most docile of pokémon got pretty antsy after an idle month or two. No wonder the yveltal had been a bad mood when she accidentally released; it had literally gone stir crazy. At least, that was what Serena assumed. She really did not know how else to describe that kind of behavior from a captured pokémon.

Then again, it had not helped that she acted more like a rookie than a seasoned trainer. Had her mother not said something once about taking the figurative gogoat by the horns and not letting go? Keeping her cool in the face of adversity was crucial in every aspect of life and most especially in training. Pokémon, even more so than people, tended to reflect the emotional state of those around them. Well, a calming presence Serena certainly had not made today.

Still, regardless of the cause of the yveltal's behavior, Serena knew she had to let it out again and soon. The problem would just get worse if she did not properly resolve it. Which meant she would have to face _it_ again. Though dread hung as an iron weight within her chest, a part of her was determined to forward plan forming in her mind. The girl's better judgement screamed quite vocally at the idea, but Serena had already decided.

She held the shrunken-down master ball in her palm, fingers tracing thoughtful patterns across the fuchsia and violet surface. Bringing the cool metal to her forehead, she sighed once again.

_Get some rest, big guy, and good luck. We're going to need heap of both come morning..._

* * *

><p>In his sleep, he dreamed of flying.<p>

The sky, clear and impossibly blue, spread before and above him. Towering mountains capped with snow brushed by just below. A light frost clung to his wings at this high altitude, but the cold was invigorating on the scarlet leather of his hide. Winds fierce and gentle caressed the mane of pale fur around his neck. When he cried out it was for the sheer joy that was bursting within his chest. Though the darkness held a certain happiness of its own, it was nothing compared to the bliss of this moment.

A wide lake appeared on the horizon, and he headed his way toward it. The crystalline waters lay perfectly still and reflective as a mirror. He landed on the rocky shore, kicking up pebbles with the mighty gusts sparked by his wings. Ripples traveled in great brief circles across the lake surface before settling again.

The waves reminded of his own thirst. Ah! how dry his mouth suddenly was. Propping himself on the clawed appendages of his wings, he leaned down to lap up the cool water-

**Ah, I was wondering when you would find your way here.**

Squawking indignantly he leaped away from the shore and promptly fell on his backside. For a moment or two he was helplessly upturned like a shuckle on its back. Adrenaline charging his pulse into a shocked tattoo, he quickly set himself to rights and looked around for the source of the voice. Indeed, it was _that_ voice, so at odds with the bright day of the dream that it unnerved him rather than comfort him as it once did.

When he at last found what he was searching, he was surprised once again. For a few seconds he thought that his reflection had crawled up and out of the water to take living form of its own. Yet this new creature, however identical it might have looked to him, was as different from himself as the lake was from the sky. Both the same in appearances but so intrinsically different as to bear no resemblance beyond the surface.

Azure eyes just a fraction brighter than his own gazed unblinking and solemn upon him. He instinctively looked away from that stare, bending his head and hugging his belly closer to the ground. There was something wild and ancient in the eyes of this not-twin that he knew better than to anger. While he did not fear this newcomer per say, he still trembled slightly in its presence. His shaking only worsened when he heard the _clack clack_ of displaced pebbles at the creature made its way towards him.

**Look at me.** He flinched at the words, disbelieving that the creature and the voice were one and the same. Somehow he could not quite reconcile the two. Still, he did not dare disobey as he reluctantly brought his eyes up to the voice's corporeal body once more.

Though the other's face did not change, he thought he saw it brighten by the smallest fraction. **That is better. Submission does not fit one of your pride and strength. That much has not changed - at least, I would hope that is not the case.** The soft pressure of a wingtip under his chin forced him to sit up level with its face. He backed away a small distance, the fur of his collar ruffling up in his agitation.

"I- I-," he stuttered, startling slightly when actual words spilled from his mouth rather than meaningless screeching. Looking about him and determined to distract himself, he coughed once or twice before speaking again. "Where are we? What is all of this? Who-?" A thousand questions suddenly rushed to the fore of his mind. _Who are you? Who, _what_, am I? What does this all mean? Why do I feel so lost?_ Anxiety and confusion he had forgotten resurfaced to bite mercilessly at him like a school of ravenous carvanha. A low whine escaped him, and he lowered his head to the ground to keep himself flying off the face of the earth with the maelstrom inside him.

A familiar hold wrapped in him in a bitter herb embrace. Forgetting his reservations from earlier in an instant, he was only too happy to bury his face, beak and all, in the soft ruff of the other creature. Salty moisture stung at the corner of his eyes and no amount of furious blinking would make them go away.

**Oh, dear one, it seems you are too fragile yet. It was not a happy first awakening for you, was it?** He could only shake his head in response, a sobbing keen stuck in his clogged throat. When he peered up, there were those ageless eyes again, staring at him with equal parts pity and sadness. Yet unpleasant news lay there in spite of the gentle and sympathetic words, and he dreaded it terribly.

"Please..." he begged. "Please don't make me go back. Too loud, too bright. Hurts, everything hurts..." Again he descended into mute crying. Part of him well and truly wanted to die right then and there. Anything was better than having to return. What did he want with a sharp and painful reality when it was dreams and darkness that brought him happiness?

**You will find no lasting happiness so long as you continue to run away.** The creature's tone seemed sterner and less forgiving this time. **Peace will forever elude your spirit until you can face and slay the demons who plague you. Your soul did not fight back death only to waste away mewling in this limbo!**

He might have fled from that fury, but the wings of the creature held him fast. Those eyes held him just as firmly and burned him mercilessly. He read disappointment there, and a deep shame flamed unpleasantly beneath his skin. Knowing that he had somehow failed this voice's expectations was worse than even its anger. "I'm sorry," he murmured quietly.

A sigh ruffled his fur and the creature loosened its grip on him. **Do not apologize. Only find a way past your fear and learn to harness that inner power.** It nuzzled him between the horns, humming deeply and soothingly. He relaxed once again in that embrace. **I will gladly show you the way if you ask me, but you must first believe in yourself. You have spent so much time sleeping that you have all but forgotten what it means to live. Though it takes courage, I know you still possess it somewhere deep inside. **

But how would he find it again?

**Well, you certainly will not find it standing here**, the voice laughed kindly. **It is somewhere beyond, out there in the world.** At last the strange reflection of himself pulled away. The mountain air felt terribly cold and lonely now in the creature's absence, but he was hesistant to ask it to stay. Would it make him appear to be the "mewling" weakling it had accused him of being?

**Well, are you coming?**

He looked up in surprise, not sure that he had heard correctly. "You mean- That is, may I-"

**Have you been listening? Though there is certainly strength in self-reliance, it is not a weakness to ask others for help. I said that I would show you the way. **With a mighty downward thrust of its wings, it took to the air and peered down at him. **Now will you follow?**

Needing no further invitation, he followed his guide into the sky. They wheeled as a pair into the sky, carving double helixes into the air as they spun around one another. Truly they were twins of a sort for there was no telling one from the other in that instant. Ascending higher and higher, their avian forms were reflected in the water far below.

Joy lit as a fire once more in his chest. Though there were certainly perils on the path ahead, at least he would not face them alone. As the sun rose over the far horizon, they rose as one to meet the dawn.

* * *

><p>A faint <em>ping! ping!<em> sounded up from the computer monitor. The planet in-miniature was displayed, showing satellite's perspective of the earth. Currently focused on Kalos, a red dot of light pulsed in the region's eastern half.

The bespectacled lab assistant leaning over the screen was startled out of her doze by the sudden noise. Adjusting her glasses, she leaned closer to the monitor. She blinked for several moments in disbelief to make sure she was not seeing things. Fingers flying towards the keyboard, the woman quickly typed in a series of commands.

The view on the screen zoomed in on the pulsating beacon, almost instantly honing in on Route 18. A pixely image of the place's rugged terrain showed up. Narrowing her eyes, she spied a red-and-black smudge distinct from the rest of the picture. Tapping on a few more keys, the lab assistant attempted to bring the image into sharper focus...

She gasped, nearly jumping out of her chair in alarm. Could it be? The off-the-chart energy readings on the creature certainly seemed to match the description. "S-sir?" she stuttered out as she turned to look over her shoulder. The other assistants around her turned to look at her curiously as well. "Sir, I think you should take a look at this."

Booted feet clunked across the tile floor of the lab. The harsh fluorescent lighting cast a ghostly shade to his already pale skin. Dressed in a white lab coat, the stout man pulled off the teal rubber gloves he was so often noted for wearing. He stuffed them in his pockets as he came to stand by the computer. Scrutinizing the screen for but half a second, he grunted his acknowledgement.

"It would seem that our target has appeared once more. Very good." A new spring seemed to insinuate itself into his step as turned away, a sign of cheerfulness that was rare in the man. The slight smirk pulling at his lips was also rather out of character.

The woman at the computer internally cringed at that look. No good ever came out of the scientist's pleasant moods. "Doctor Xerosic, what are your orders? Now that the yveltal's location has been confirmed, shouldn't we-"

"Do not concern yourself with such matters, Ms. Johnson. As you were." He did not so much as glance back at her as he headed for the elevator.

"But sir-"

"I said _do not concern yourself_." And he left it at that.

_And so it begins again._

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><p>AN: Aaaaand cue the drama!

Haha, hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Sorry for the wait - real life caught up with me there for a while. Hopefully I can bring the next chapter to you sooner along with some lovely Yveltal and Serena interaction.

Oh, and a quick question for you reviewers: what part of or which character in this story do you like so far? I would love to hear your thoughts!

Stay cool and stay sweet, and have a lovely spring break! :D

-Xen


	6. Second Chances

**_"I think we all have empathy. We may not have enough courage to display it."_**

-Maya Angelou

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><p>Morning dawned fresh and rosy in the east. The first light of day fractured in the mist thrown up by the cascades, scattering rainbows along the ridge. Schools of poliwag and basculin played in the pools that collected at the base of each waterfall. Sunrise was always a gorgeous time of day in Couriway, and one could have whiled away the morning just drinking in the scenic beauty...<p>

If said person, that is, was not a trainer named Serena who had some very unpleasant issues to resolve that day, issues concerning a certain bird of death.

Serena took in a deep breath - inhale and exhale, inhale and exhale, inhale and exhale oh Arceus what was she doing she was crazy she was-

"_Kri._" A light tap of wood on her shoulder broke the teenager out of the beginnings of a panic attack. Minverva fixed her trainer with a look of weary patience. Translated into human-speak, Serena was sure it meant something to the effect of "girl, get a grip."

"Thanks," she muttered in return, bringing a hand to her chest. Arceus, why was her heart beating so fast? She had not even _touched_ the master ball yet that morning and already she wanted to puke her guts out. _Probably a good thing I had a light breakfast,_ she mused to herself. _C'mon, Serena, you can do this..._

What was she so scared about? Though a veteran she was not, Serena had faced her share of difficulties as a trainer. Granted, Caesar had been the single biggest, but she still prided herself on her success with him. How many other people in the world could honestly say they had stood their ground in the path of a charging tyrantrum? (Still, the girl had never come closer to personally wetting herself during a training session than she had with him. Her arms still bore a permanent lattice work of thin scars from when the little brute had mauled her arms as a tyrunt) If she hold her own against _that_, then it followed that she could hold her own with a yveltal.

Except, Caesar, though a cranky and wild alpha male at times, would probably just squash her or chomp her in half, worst case scenario. A little messy, yes, but a relatively painless end after the whole dying bit. Death by a yveltal… not so much. Perhaps Serena was just being silly, but somehow getting the life literally sucked out of her sounded a lot less appetizing than just being mercifully trampled underfoot.

_Still… _butted in an annoyingly reasonable voice in her head. _The trick to getting a tyrantrum to obey you… Couldn't the same logic be used to calm down Big-Red-and-Crazy? Just stand your ground and show it who's boss._ Reaching down in her bag, Serena's fingers ran smoothly over the cool metal of the master ball. Her thoughts were taking a sudden turn down memory lane, a moment from her childhood coming unbidden to her mind…

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><p><em>She patted the rough, rocky hide of the pokémon. The four year old shrieked when the rhyhorn's tongue flicked out to place smelly kiss across her cheek. "Eeew!" Serena giggled, slapping his snout lightly in retaliation. "Bad, Sam, bad! Stop! Stinky!" Her scolding did nothing to mollify the creature, who only licked her across the other cheek and nudged her with the blunt side of his horn.<em>

_The second time was not half as amusing, and now there was real irritation in her scrunched-up face. She soundly slapped his snout again, scowling angrily at the rhyhorn. "I said 'stop!' Bad, Sam, ba-" _

_Not a moment later, she was shoved roughly to ground. The little girl's rump hit the dirt _hard_. Tears of pain pricked at the corner of her eyes, and she gasped in horror. Samson, the gentlest and most patient _pokémon she knew, was standing over her, a snarl of abject rage and hatred twisting his expression. A roar ripped from his mouth, nearly enough to make her go deaf. Then his razor sharp horn swung towards Serena, ready to cleave her in half. She screamed and screwed her eyes shut, bracing herself for the pain-__

__But it never came.__

__A red flash, the mechanical __ping!__ of a withdrawing pok_éball, _and Sam had disappeared. __

__"Serena?!" ____Suddenly she was picked and wrapped in someone's strong arms. Serena sobbed and flung her arms around her rescuer's neck. "Serena, baby girl, are you all right?"__

__"M-mommy!" the girl sobbed, burying her face in that warm shoulder. She shivered like a leaf, and tears fell freely from her eyes to soak her mother's hoodie.__

__Hours later, when Serena was finally calm enough to explain what had happened, her mother just looked at her with sad eyes and a wan smile tugging at her lips. "P__ok_émon aren't like your toys, baby girl," she said. "If you hit them, they'll hit you right back. And if you don't give them love and respect, they won't think twice about giving you the same treatment in return. Pok_____émon are powerful, Serena, and they can hurt you before you even know what hit you._____"_____

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><p>Not her favorite memory, if she was honest with herself. For weeks afterward she had been afraid to get anywhere near Sam, and it was years before she lost her fear of the rhyhorn and others like him.<p>

Well, maybe _lost her fear_ was not the right way to put it. That implied she had forgotten the hard-earned lesson she took that day. Far from it, actually.

Serena's brush with Sam had laid the foundation for her techniques as a trainer. In order to work any pokémon, from the gentlest cleffa to the fiercest haxorus, there had to be a kind of understanding between human and beast. There needed to be trust and cooperation between them, first and foremost, and that indeed was the very essence of the trainer-pokémon bond. Without some sort of mutual respect, a willingness to become dependent upon one another, how could the two ever hope to succeed as partners in battle and in life?

More to the point, how had Serena completely thrown all of that out with regards to the yveltal? Teeth biting at her lower lip, shame pooled in her stomach. For weeks she had been treating the bird like a monster to be feared and not a pokémon to be cared for and trained. _And I've been acting like I'm some sort of half-terrified green rookie,_ she admonished herself. She had not given it, the yveltal, even an ounce of the patience and reassurance it had needed so badly. Her own fears and reservations should not have held her back for so much as second, should not have made her hesitate and cower and run away. What kind of trainer did that make her?

Not a professional or brave one, to be sure...

But she would be damned if she was not going to change that.

Fisting her one hand, Serena took one last steadying breath before reaching inside her bag. Eyes narrowed and focused the girl took out the ball and heaved it into the air. A second later the great scarlet and black avian form of the yveltal emerged, screeching its signature call to the world.

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><p>His awakening was, thankfully, not so jarring the second time around. The night's sleep - a mere nap compared to his previous hibernation - had done him well. Dreams had been peaceful for him, though even now he was quite forgetting the details. All he could hold onto was a sense of comfort and a vague hope for the future.<p>

Bright sunshine in his eyes made him blink rapidly as he instinctively took to the air. It was several seconds before properly see again, and when he did he found the scene from yesterday to be changed. Where there had been rugged scrub and rocky river before there were now verdant landscapes and cascading waterfalls. Rainbows fell of the mist like sparks, like iridescent jewels forged from the very atmosphere. The sight momentarily dazzled him so that he quite forgot that he was not alone.

:I never took you for a murkrow. You must be a rather large and strange mutated breed of them indeed if shiny objects capture your fancy so easily.:

He snapped his head towards the fox, blue eyes bright and alert but not alarmed. That matronly and no-nonsense tone was as grating as he remembered, but its familiarity was also paradoxically comforting in a way. The curious tilt of his head was his mute response for he still did not have a very good grasp of this mental speech in which she was so fluent.

Lifting one brow in a very human gesture, the delphox tapped the ground with her staff insistently. :Are you going to flap there gawking at us all day?: she asked. :Come down and greet us properly now.:

Still a bit lost and sleepy himself, the avian obeyed willingly enough. He circled downward in a smooth glide, landing several yards from the fox (and the girl, as he was just now noticing). Though he flew gracefully enough, his wings were not the sort that tucked neatly under his sides. Instead, he had to stand up and prop himself up on his arm-like wings as he did yesterday. The position was odd and while not unnatural it did feel rather uncomfortable. He obeyed, however, and craned his short neck to peer at the two females.

Serena was much the same as she was yesterday, though to his mild surprise she was not fleeing as she had before. Not that he wanted her to, and a small, warm ember lit up in his chest at the fact that she had not run away. Yet. The teenager's quiet and suppressed shaking did not go unnoticed by him. _She is still afraid,_ he thought mournfully. _She is still scared... of me._ That pained him in way he could neither understand or explain, and the wonderful feeling in his chest was promptly snuffed out again.

Keening low in his throat, his electric blue eyes closed and his horned head drooped. It like seeing the sun but being unable to feel its warmth, this distance between him and the human. A deep instinct knew that there was comfort and peace in the anchor she provided, but those were intangible dreams at best if he could not approach her without lighting fear in that grey gaze, when she would not even touch him willingly...

A soft, steady caress at his temple, at the place between his horns. His eyes snapped open again. A quiet, almost gasp-like sound escaped him when he saw Serena's face mere inches from his own.

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><p>"Wh- what's wrong, big guy?" Oh, there went the stutter in her voice again. The girl was practically quaking in her rider boots, but the part of her that was not focused on keeping her rooted to the spot silently cheered her on for not fainting like a dainty damsel. Besides, it was a bit easier to put aside her fear in the face of someone else's emotional turmoil, for what else was there to read in the yveltal's posture but sadness?<p>

That little moan from it (no, him, _him_; Serena had to remind herself that the creature was male) has pushed past her last resistance. Almost without thought she had walked over to him (or rather stumbled what with her sprained ankle), had laid a calming hand on his head as she had for her own pokémon many times before. Wilted as he looked, he actually reminded Serena of Coatl, or at least a little. Her venasaur was pitiful puppy whenever his mood took a turn for the gloomy, and it never failed to break her inside. Her heart melted the same way for the yveltal's sake. Yesterday, now that she thought of it, he had acted much the same way: the drooping figure, the fractured light of confusion in his eyes, the instinctual need to be comforted.

_How didn't I see it before?_ Maybe she had been blinded by her own troubles too much to see his pain. Arceus knew it would not be the first time with the way she had been acting lately. That train of thought only brought up friends and family to mind, though, most especially a certain boy she knew and had hurt so badly.

But she was not dealing with _them_ right now. No, Serena responsibilities as a trainer came first, especially in this moment.

The yveltal back at her, so shyly and doubtfully. It was as if he could not believe what he was seeing, as if he never expected the trainer to come near him. A shaky warbling emanated from his large and bent frame, and goodness help her if it did not sound distinctly like sobbing.

"Shhh, shhh," she soothed with a whisper, forcing the trepidation out of tone. Calling on knowledge on how to calm a pokémon, she drew her palms up and down his scalp in lightly circling motions. "Easy there. You're safe. Everything's going to be all right."

Oh, if she had her wits about her, Serena might have laughed at the irony. Here she was crooning nonsense to the creature as if he were a frightened child and not the personification of death itself. Yet he acted like a frightened child, alone and unsure of himself. Where was the powerful and confident legend she had first met, had fought and captured? The girl blamed herself for that. Being cooped up for that long could do strange things whether one was a human or a pokémon. Again, no fault of the yveltal's but her own.

Eventually he fell silent again, though the girl did not cease in petting his head. The bird leaned ever so slightly into her touch, barely exercising any pressure, as if he were afraid _she_ would become spooked and bolt like a buneary. He purred in what might have been pleasure though there was no telling with his kind.

"You really aren't all that big and scary, are you?" More of an admission to herself than anythhing, but the yveltal's eyes flicked towards her all the same. Intense and ancient as that gaze way, if Serena squinted she could see no ill intention there. She hardly dared to say it out loud, but he looked almost... cute?

"Heh, you're a strange one, big gu- You know, it's weird, but I don't have a name for you. Can't really keep calling you 'big guy'..."

Again the pokémon tilted his head at her, as if he could perfectly understand her words and also wondered why he had not been given an actual name. The slight shift caused the light of the sun from the east catch him in the face. The ray of light danced off his deep eyes, casting their depths into a brilliant aquamarine for a heartbeat or two.

Turning her head to look at the horizon, Serena squinted her eyes against the dawn's bright light. Yet even as she turned back and blinked the spots from her eyes, an idea curved her lips in a wide grin.

"How about I call you... Xibalba." When he responded with a brief braviary's cry, the teenager laughed in spite of herself. "Yeah, that sounds like you. But what do you think? Do you like that name, _Xibalba_?"

She took the loud and reverberating cry that followed after to be a resounding "yes."

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><p>AN: Aaaaand a thousand pardons for this chapter taking so long to get out! Inspiration is a fickle thing, and writing useless fluff is just not my style. I hope this installment didn't disappoint, and I hope you all enjoy it.

A big thank you to everyone who has taken the time to review, favorite, and follow! Your interest means a lot to little old me. Have a good day! c:

-Xen


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